The congregation eased the losses affected by their material position.
At first 2% of the income was submitted, then four Kronen per Dinar was
expected.
Finally the Dinar lost 9/10 of its worth in gold.
The war loans of the Hungarian monarchy
are worth nothing.
On the occasion of the 400 year return of the Reformation celebration on the
31st of October 1917 the pastor of the community was given the suggestion of a
fund with the interesting purpose of the Evangelical community having a carefree
existence after 100 years. The
donated sum together with the interest should not be touched.
The people were taxed to provide for the needy and the poor.
In 1919 an offertory box was installed and before Christmas the incoming sum
was collected and shared with members of the community in need.
Besides that the elders collected for the poor each winter.
It was decided at the community assembly in 1936 to raise the national tax 1% to
support our poor. In 1922 the
people of America collected 232 dollars which equals 66.2 Kronen.
The poor received 34.3 of it, the parsonage 12.4, for the bells 10.5, and for
the organ 9.0 Kronen. Among the
poor 14.0 Kronen was distributed. From the remaining portion a fund was established for the poor.
Also the same year an association of "Austrian men" from America donated 38.15
Kronen.
The total was divided up between the poor of the Evangelical congregation
and the poor of the German Reformed congregation.
Among the contributors the ones who donated the most were: Heinrich
Müller, Heinrich Brückner, Adam Ruppe, Peter Hellermann and others.
In the framework of the new national borders it was soon necessary that the
Evangelical church of the country had to adapt to the altered relationship of
their constitution. For this
purpose the Werbaßer Synod was called together in 1925 which met for four days.
After that on the 16th of April 1930 the "Law over the the Evangelical Christian
Churches and over the Reformed Christian Church of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia"
was published and the synod law could be presented for sanctioning. - Our
congregation provided the proposal to the synod of a central treasury but they
had no success. The members of the
synod were elected by the communities.
Outgoing members must be replaced.
There were frequent elections and runoffs at which the community often only knew
one candidate. Our Evangelical
congregation made an application to the Seniorate that they would like to
introduce a way of organizing guest preachers which could contribute to the
promotion of church life as a way to control these problems.
In this respect our community's application was a success.
Senior Jakob Jahn was greatly in favor of this request.
Nevertheless no such organization for the guest preachers could be brought about
which they would like to secure for the duration, although this was possible and
necessary. The eternal material
question and the unfounded fear of one unfavorable retroactive force of the
local pastor. An outgoing attempt
was made to overcome the lack of enthusiasm in the matter.
Apart from this, this point failed.
So far our community in the situation of guest sermons was to hear from the
following pulpit speakers: Dr. Philipp Popp, bishop's administrator and the
pastor of Zagreb; Senior Jakob Jahn, pastor of Dobropolje (Kisker); Jakob
Kettenbach, senior of Srem (Syrmia) and pastor of Zemun; Senior a.D. Samuel
Schumacher, our German member of parliament and pastor of Petrovopolje; Wilhelm
Klaar, pastor of Titel; Heinrich Lebherz, pastor of Sombor; Consenior Franz
Morganthaler from Jarek; Jakob Mensch, pastor of Pasicevo; Heinrich Meder,
pastor of Novi Vrbas. Besides that
the other pastors and vicars served at church services.
Lectures held: Schooldirector Gettwert, professor in Graz, and Professor
Seizinger from Tübingen. At these
very special experiences the guest sermons informed of the colored missionary:
Sadhu John Nelson Christananda from the Indian subcontinent in Asia.
He was here in 1926 and 1930.
Also
the bishop's administrator, Dr. Philipp Popp,
stepped up to the pulpit for the second time as he went on a publicity trip for
the Gustav-Adolf Association with which our national churches at
The
colored guest preacher and missionary: Sadhu John Nelson Christananda.
He was 36 years old, Evangelical, and he came from the Indian subcontinent in Asia where he spread the Evangelical religion
among his colored comrades. They
needed 60 Evangelical schools, which would
cost 3000 Dinars, and from their design
only simple straw covered huts were built.
He
immortalized his h
